React app crashes with TypeError when accessing videoId property from YouTube API v3 response

Other Questions RapidAPI
1

I’m working on a YouTube clone project and running into issues with the YouTube API v3 through RapidAPI. My React application stops working when I try to render video components. The problem happens when I use this conditional rendering: {entry.id.videoId && <MediaCard media={entry}/>}. Here’s my media display component:

import {Grid, Container} from '@mui/material';
import {ChannelCard, MediaCard} from './';

const MediaList = ({mediaItems}) => {

  return (
    <Grid container spacing={3} justifyContent="flex-start">
        {mediaItems.map((entry, index) => (
            <Container key={index}>
                {entry.id.videoId && <MediaCard media={entry}/>}
            </Container>
        ))}
    </Grid>
  )
}

export default MediaList

The error I’m getting:

MediaList.jsx:9 Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'videoId')
    at MediaList.jsx:9:1
    at Array.map (<anonymous>)
    at MediaList (MediaList.jsx:7:1)
    at renderWithHooks (react-dom.development.js:16305:1)
    at mountIndeterminateComponent (react-dom.development.js:20074:1)

What’s the best way to handle this undefined property error? Should I add additional checks before accessing the videoId?

2

totally feel ya! had a similar prob. adding that check like entry.id && entry.id.videoId works. sometimes the api’s responses can be sketchy or just blank, so def keep an eye on your mediaItems bein empty too. hang in there!

3

This error typically occurs when the API returns an empty array or when some items in the response don’t follow the expected structure. I encountered similar issues while working with different YouTube API endpoints and found that adding a simple validation check at the component level solved it effectively. Before mapping over mediaItems, verify that it’s actually an array with Array.isArray(mediaItems) && mediaItems.length > 0. Additionally, you should validate each entry has the required structure with something like entry && entry.id && entry.id.videoId instead of just checking videoId directly. The YouTube API sometimes returns mixed content types in search results, and not all items will have the same properties. Consider adding a loading state while the API call is pending to prevent rendering before data is fully loaded.

4

Had this exact same issue when building my own YouTube clone last year. The problem is that the YouTube API response structure isn’t always consistent - sometimes the id property might be missing entirely or structured differently depending on the API endpoint you’re hitting. I ended up using optional chaining which is much cleaner than nested conditionals. Change your condition to {entry.id?.videoId && <MediaCard media={entry}/>} and it should handle cases where either id or videoId is undefined. Also worth checking if you’re mixing search results with playlist items since they have different response structures. The search endpoint returns id.videoId while playlist items use just videoId directly. You might want to log the actual API response to see what structure you’re getting back.